Track and Field

A coaching philosophy is a personal doctrine, or individual set of experiences and values, that guides a coach’s beliefs, actions, and coaching style (Huber, 2013). The humanistic coaching philosophy involves a collaborative coach/athlete process which considers individual athlete differences, abilities, and goals, with the long-term aim of developing a self-confident and selfregulated athlete (Lyle, 1999). Opposite of the traditional model where success is determined by wins or losses, within the humanistic approach winning is redefined so that the process is emphasized and achievement of individual athlete goals indicates success. Through coach interviews, athlete interviews, training session observations, and artifact collection, the aim of this case study was to explore the coaching philosophy and methods of a successful men’s NCAA Division I cross country coach and explore to what extent they are humanistic. Definition of success emerged as a primary theme where results indicat...

The placebo effect, with its central role in clinical trials, is acknowledged as a factor in sports medicine, although until recently little has been known about the likely magnitude and extent of the effect in any specific research setting. Even less is known about the prevalence of the effect in competitive sport. The present paper reviews 12 intervention studies in sports performance. All examine placebo effects associated with the administration of an inert substance believed by subjects to be an ergogenic aid. Placebo effects of varying magnitudes are reported in studies addressing sports from weightlifting to endurance cycling. Findings suggest that psychological variables such as motivation, expectancy and conditioning, and the interaction of these variables with physiological variables, might be significant factors in driving both positive and negative outcomes. Programmatic research involving the triangulation of data, and investigation of contextual and personality factors in the mediation of placebo responses may help to advance knowledge in this area.

Instantaneous horizontal velocity is the most important factor influencing on sprint performance in track and field. It can be either determined directly by radar or derived as a product of step length and step frequency. The second approach also helps to enhance the biomechanics of sprinting. This paper presents a low-cost wireless framework containing an inertial measurement unit. The developed system derives information about step parameters from an accelerometer and a gyroscope measurement results and fulfills a real-time analysis of sprinter's activity. The on-body unit is mounted on the low back and doesn't impact on the running style, in contrast to foot-mounted sensors. The developed system doesn't require a time-consuming installation and can be applied during daily workouts.

Evidence of the importance of physique in the athletics disciplines is supported by the persistence of certain characteristics over long periods, despite marked secular changes in the source population. These characteristics may also result in physiological benefits such as effective thermoregulation or a greater power-to-weight ratio. Coaches and athletes are often convinced of weight or fat loss benefits based on personal or anecdotal experience, intuition, and "trained eye" observation of successful competitors. This may entice athletes into adopting unbalanced, erratic or highly restrictive eating patterns that increase the risk for nutrient deficiencies, and disordered eating. Despite heavy training loads and often extreme diets, some athletes fall short of their physique goals as ultimately phenotype is under genetic control. Professionals assisting athletes with physique management need to be highly skilled in anthropometry and require a thorough understanding of sports-specific nutrition requirements. Careful assessment of the risks and benefits of various approaches to weight and fat loss is required before they are recommended to athletes.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a year-round resistance training guide for all track and field athletes. Evidence-based resistance training research for sprinters, throwers, and distance runners as well as more specific information for jumpers, pole vaulters, middle-distance runners, and javelin throwers is provided. The information will follow the periodization for the typical track and field training year and provide detailed information on training techniques, recommended intensities, and various goals for each event group and training season. While many track and field teams are not equipped with a strength and conditioning coach, this guide will assist any track and field coach to incorporate resistance training into their general training for the entire track and field team.

A good understanding of the mechanics of pole vaulting is fundamental to performance because this event is quite complex, with several factors occurring in sequence and/or in parallel. These factors mainly concern the velocities of the vaulter-pole system, the kinetic and potential energy of the vaulter and the strain energy stored in the pole, the force and torque applied by the athlete, and the pole design. Although the pole vault literature is vast, encompassing several fields such as medicine, sports sciences, mechanics, mathematics, and physics, the studies agree that pole vault performance is basically influenced by the energy exchange between the vaulter and pole. Ideally, as the athlete clears the crossbar, the vaulter mechanical energy must be composed of high potential energy and low kinetic energy, guaranteeing the high vertical component of the vault. Moreover, the force and torque applied by the vaulter influences this energy exchange and these factors thus must be taken into consideration in the analysis of performance. This review presents the variables that influence pole vault performance during the run-up, take-off, pole support, and free flight phases.

The purpose of the present study was to identify the existence of Relative Age Effect (RAE) on Turkish U14 athletes in 2016 U14 Turkish Indoor T&F Championship. The sample included 748 U14 athletes (455 girls, 293 boys) who were participated to championship in six events. Data was collected by the official web page of Turkish Athletic Federation (TAF). The birth dates of all athletes were divided into Quarters (Q) and Halves (H). Q1 (January, February, March), Q2 (April, May, June), Q3 (July, August, September), Q4 (October, November, December) and H1 (from January to June), H2 (from July to December). Additionally, athletes who were participated finals were divided into Quarters. To analyze the birth distribution of the athletes by Quarter and Halve we used Chi-square test. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24 series of chi-square tests. Statistical significance level was set at 0,05. Results has shown statistical differences in the distribution for the girls and boys population who born in the first Quarter (Q1) and first Halve (H1) of the year. Moreover, it was observed that male and female athletes who were born in the first quarter (Q1) had a higher participation rate to the finals. Findings of this study has shown an exact influence of RAE on U14 Track and Field athletes. Coaches, parents and federations should consider RAE in the selection phase of the athletes.
ÖZET:Bu çalışmanın amacı, 2016 Türkiye Salon Atletizm Şampiyonası'na katılan 14 yaş altı (U14) atletlerde bağıl yaş etkisinin varlığını tespit etmektir. Çalışmaya toplam altı branşta yarışan 748 atlet (455 Kız, 293 Erkek) katılmıştır. Sporcuların doğum tarihlerine ait bilgiler erişime açık olan Türkiye Atletizm Federasyonu (TAF) ağ sayfasından arşiv taraması yapılarak elde edilmiştir. Müsabakaya katılan atletlerin doğum tarihleri Çeyrek yıl (ÇY) ve Yarım yıl (YY) dönemler olacak şekilde bölümlere ayrılmıştır.) aylarını kapsamaktadır. Ayrıca finalde yarışma hakkı kazanan atletlerin doğum tarihleri çeyrek dönem olacak şekilde incelenmiştir. Veriler SPSS 24 serisi Ki-kare testi ile analiz edilmiştir. Anlamlılık derecesi p=0,05 kabul edilmiştir. Yılı çeyrek ve yarım dilimlere ayırmak suretiyle yapılan değerlendirme sonucu müsabakaya katılan atletlerin dağılımlarında sayısal olarak ilk çeyrek ve ilk yarım dilimlerde istatiksel açıdan anlamlı bir fazlalık tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca yılın ilk çeyreğinde doğmuş olan kız ve erkek atletlerin finale katılım oranlarının daha fazla olduğu gözlemlenmiştir. Çalışmanın bulguları 14 yaş altı atletlerde BYE'nin varlığını açık şekilde göstermektedir. Antrenörler, aileler ve federasyonlar sporcuların takımlara seçilme aşamalarında BYE'yi göz önünde bulundurmalıdırlar.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how expert ham- mer throwers perceived their training activities. Thirty two Spanish ham- mer throwers participated in this study; all of them were components of the Spanish track and field team. They ranged in age from 14 to 30 years (M= 19). Twenty were male and twelve female. The Perception of Train- ing Activities Questionnaire was used to assess athlete's perceptions of training. Data were collected during training sessions. Results showed that technical skill training alone and with others, and to talk with the coach were the most relevant activities for all athletes, but gender differences were found in the perceptions of different training activities. One of the conclusiones have to see with the different perceptions that about training activities have athletes in different sports.

We argue that basic psychological needs theory (BPNT) offers impetus to the value of mental toughness as a mechanism for optimizing human functioning. We hypothesized that psychological needs satisfaction (thwarting) would be associated with higher (lower) levels of mental toughness, positive affect, and performance and lower (higher) levels of negative affect. We also expected that mental toughness would be associated with higher levels of positive affect and performance and lower levels of negative affect. Further, we predicted that coaching environments would be related to mental toughness indirectly through psychological needs and that psychological needs would indirectly relate with performance and affect through mental toughness. Adolescent cross-country runners (136 male and 85 female, M(age) = 14.36) completed questionnaires pertaining to BPNT variables, mental toughness, and affect. Race times were also collected. Our findings supported our hypotheses. We concluded that BPN...